Pre-insurrection speaker John Eastman goes full Calhoun, calling for restrictions on internal movement between states and the formation of mobs for "high intensity" demonstrations in cities. amgreatness.com/2021/08/10/how…
Eastman goes on to propose that states make payments in cryptocurrencies to subvert the US dollar.
Here's a call for nullification, to be invoked "if under color of the law the feds egregiously subvert individual civil rights," which Eastman admits would "produce the highest level of direct state-federal confrontation."
"...they might be seen as constituting stepping stones to complete severance."
Despite the violent ransacking of the US Capitol by Trump supporters, Eastman laments that "only one side of our cold civil war has thus far shown any real resolve" and threatens "the dissolution of our republic and its framework of freedom" if his demands aren't appeased.
Co-author Stephen Balch, a senior fellow at the Claremont Institute, wrote an extraordinary piece in November calling on Trump supporters to "stretch institutional bonds to a degree that genuinely alarms our conniving subverters." amgreatness.com/2020/11/30/wil…
Balch: "Today, we’re back to the human default, wherein 'those who have the power take and those hold who can.'"
Balch: "even the most conscientious jurist will judge the wind as well as the law... our strategy must buttress legal arguments with formidable public acts."
Balch: "the president must now lead his followers into America's streets and squares. They must especially flock to the capitol complexes of all the critical states and register indignant protest... make midnight (and televised) arrests of top perps."
Balch: "And if we fail...we will have laid the necessary foundation for a continuing unconventional struggle..."
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Rubio’s statement on Trump’s acquittal following “the criminal attack of January 6th”: “let history, and if necessary the courts, judge the events of the past.”
. rubio.senate.gov/rubio-statemen…
GOP Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina, who also voted to acquit Trump:
"The ultimate accountability is through our criminal justice system... No president is above the law or immune from criminal prosecution, and that includes former President Trump. tillis.senate.gov/2021/2/tillis-…
Rich Lowry: “Washington power centers” and the US military will prevent Trump from becoming a dictator
"I’m not saying [the Trump-as-Dictator] scenario is impossible, just that it requires every Republican in the legislative branch to accept a role akin to obedient eunuchs." 🤔
National Review: President Trump ought to be able to staff 100% of the executive branch with political loyalists… also, we can depend on military oaths to save the US Constitution.
A couple of thoughts on this from the WSJ editorial board.
1. Institutions are just people. When you say "institutions are strong enough" you're saying that people will stop Trump. Who, exactly? GOP senators wouldn't convict after a literal coup attempt! wsj.com/articles/gop-d…
2. When you're trying to persuade open-minded conservative voters to avoid nominating Trump, you undermine your case when you say Trump can be contained. You're telling them "don't worry, it's not that risky, and if you don't stop him, someone else will."
3. So who are the generals who would refuse mobilization orders under a dubious invocation of the Insurrection Act in 2026? What if Trump replaces the flag officer corps in 2025 and replaces them exclusively with MAGA loyalists?